This Sunday: Have a Full Irish Breakfast and Go Looking for a Pot of Gold and Four-Leaf Clovers

St. Patrick’s Day is when we celebrate even a little bit of Irish heritage, put on the John McDermott album and find our greenest t-shirt. And while it ends up being an all-day pub party for some, there’s plenty of non-beer and whisky fun to be had. We think the St. Patrick’s Day weekend is a perfect excuse to make a good old-fashioned fry-up for breakfast and then go out chasing leprechauns and look for their gold and try to find a few four-leaf clovers for good luck.

EAT:

A traditional Irish breakfast. OK, maybe make it less than traditional and don’t include all the meat. Have a little orange juice, brew a pot of Irish Breakfast tea (or herbal tea for the kids), and then get to frying up:

black and white pudding (if you’re going to be raising tiny foodies, this is part of the breakfast… but if you don’t want to find all those unusual ingredients and put together the pudding, we think this breakfast has enough meat already)

potato bread (optional)

Add a little toast and jam and you won’t be hungry for hours/days.

DO:

When you think “St. Patrick’s Day”, what’s your first thought? Beer? Oh, ok, the next thought? Leprechauns! Yes, those mischievous creatures who hide a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and try to prevent children from having a healthy balanced breakfast of marshmallows. Once you’ve had your nice, full Irish breakfast, take advantage of the beautiful weather we’re having and get outside. (For our pals who are still experiencing winter, replace “take advantage of” with “tackle” and “beautiful” with “miserable.”) OK! Now let’s set off on a hunt for the leprechaun’s pot of gold. If you think your chances of finding a real, live leprechaun are slim-to-nil, head to your favourite park and look for four-leaf clovers. If you can’t do that, enjoy a nice family hike and see what you can see — squirrels, crocuses, leaves budding, funny clouds, etc.